Be brilliant, play brilliant, and master craps the ideal way!
Dice and dice games date back to the Crusades, but modern craps is approximately a century old. Modern craps developed from the old English game referred to as Hazard. No one absolutely knows the beginnings of the game, although Hazard is said to have been made up by the Anglo, Sir William of Tyre, sometime in the twelfth century. It is presumed that Sir William’s horsemen bet on Hazard during a blockade on the fortress Hazarth in 1125 AD. The name Hazard was acquired from the fortress’s name.
Early French settlers brought the game Hazard to Nova Scotia. In the 1700s, when banished by the English, the French relocated south and settled in southern Louisiana where they eventually became known as Cajuns. When they left Acadia, they took their favored game, Hazard, with them. The Cajuns streamlined the game and made it fair mathematically. It is believed that the Cajuns changed the name to craps, which was acquired from the name of the bad luck toss of snake-eyes in the game of Hazard, recognized as "crabs."
From Louisiana, the game migrated to the Mississippi barges and across the nation. Most acknowledge the dice maker John H. Winn as the founder of modern craps. In the early 1900s, Winn built the current craps setup. He appended the Do not Pass line so gamblers can bet on the dice to lose. Later, he developed the boxes for Place bets and put in place the Big 6, Big 8, and Hardways.